TD Cowen Cuts UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Price Target to $546.00

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) had its target price decreased by TD Cowen from $607.00 to $546.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $584.00 to $581.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $525.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Stephens reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $605.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Barclays assumed coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an overweight rating and a $551.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $618.00 to $584.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $576.48.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $450.01 on Wednesday. UnitedHealth Group has a one year low of $445.68 and a one year high of $554.70. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $495.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $517.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $414.88 billion, a PE ratio of 18.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.54.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.98 by $0.18. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.39% and a net margin of 6.02%. The company had revenue of $94.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.34 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a $1.88 dividend. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 31.54%.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,527,306.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,527,306.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total value of $451,127.82. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 83,860,515 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $44,150,045,000 after purchasing an additional 250,291 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,220,234 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $12,715,790,000 after buying an additional 527,526 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,635,038 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $8,289,386,000 after buying an additional 1,893,192 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,122,203 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,961,369,000 after buying an additional 324,733 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,860,985 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $6,244,158,000 after buying an additional 542,424 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Company Profile

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated operates as a diversified health care company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: UnitedHealthcare, Optum Health, Optum Insight, and Optum Rx. The UnitedHealthcare segment offers consumer-oriented health benefit plans and services for national employers, public sector employers, mid-sized employers, small businesses, and individuals; health care coverage, and health and well-being services to individuals age 50 and older addressing their needs; Medicaid plans, children's health insurance and health care programs; and health and dental benefits, and hospital and clinical services, as well as health care benefits products and services to state programs caring for the economically disadvantaged, medically underserved, and those without the benefit of employer-funded health care coverage.